10 things the Tories have done a 'f****** good job' of after Gillian Keegan rant
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has made it clear she's far from happy no one is thanking her for doing a "f****** good job".
She's had a difficult few days after more than 100 schools were ordered to close or partially close because they are at risk of collapsing - just days before the start of term. In unguarded hot mic comments, she made it clear she's displeased with being blamed for the fiasco, which she pointed out has been going on for years.
The Tory cabinet member fumed: "Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f***ing good job because everyone else has sat on their a***s and done nothing? No signs of that, no?"
She later apologised for the remark and said she was frustrated about the way she was being grilled. She'll be painfully aware that the Department for Education (DfE) warned way back in 2021 that a deadly school collapse was "very likely".
But in fairness to Ms Keegan, we've had a look at 10 things the Government is also doing a "f****** good job" at.,
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Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was very displeased after being questioned over school safetyKeeping schools safe
This has been a complete disaster. Having been told by the Department for Education (DfE) that a school collapse causing death or injury was "very likely" back in 2021, the crisis came to a head last week.
Just days before term was due to start, more than 100 schools were told they had to fully or partially shut. This is because they were built using reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), which has an effective life of around 30 years.
Jonathan Slater, the permanent secretary at the Department for Education from 2016 to 2020, said civil servants told the Government there was a "critical risk to life" from dodgy school buildings. In a damaging intervention, he said he was "amazed" that the Treasury failed to stump up cash in the 2021 Spending Review - when Mr Sunak was Chancellor.
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Driving down crime
Grim crime figures show that just 5.7% of crimes were solved by police last year. Home Office data for England and Wales reveal that 2.3million crimes were dropped without a suspect being found.
Particularly shaming is the charge rate for sexual offences, standing at 3.6% and 2.1% for rape. Meanwhile just 6.5% of robbery offences ended up with a person being charged.
Unsurprisingly Labour had plenty to say, with Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper stating: “After 13 years of Tory government, over 90% of crimes are going unsolved. That is the abysmal Conservative record on law and order – more criminals being let off and more victims being let down. For some serious crimes, like rape and robbery, the charge rate is now so low it constitutes a national scandal."
Bringing down NHS waiting lists
The Prime Minister is under fire over the state of the NHS (Getty Images)NHS waiting lists in England climbed to another new record high during the summer break. The appointment waiting list in England rose to 7.6million at the end of June, up from 7.5 million the previous month, despite the PM insisting cutting waiting lists is a priority for 2023.
To make matters worse, junior doctors are set to stage more walkouts in a bitter dispute over pay and conditions. A 48 hour strike is set to start on September 19, while further action is set to run between October 2 and 4 - during the Tory Party Conference.
A staggering 121,000 people died while on the NHS waiting list last year, according to shock new data. Figures released under Freedom of Information laws reveal numbers dying while waiting for hospital treatment are even higher than seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Stopping the boats
It's well documented that this is turning into a real headache for Rishi Sunak. He enthusiastically promised that under his leadership dangerous Channel crossings would be tackled.
But last week he was forced to admit he had no idea when this can be achieved, and refused to commit to doing so by the next General Election. And Home Office figures show that 20,000 people have reached the UK by small boat since the start of the year.
The urgency of solving the problem was highlighted when six people - believed to be from Afghanistan - tragically died on the Channel last month.
Winning by-elections
The Tories have had a difficult few months on the election front. First up there were May's local council elections - which saw them lose more than 1,000 seats. And the party is already licking its wounds after trouncings in Somerton and Frome and Selby and Ainsty - where the Conservatives' 20,000 majorities were smashed to pieces in July.
In fairness they did come out on top in Boris Johnson's old seat, Uxbridge and South Ruislip - having been expected to lose that too. But they were able to hold onto it by a majority of less than 500, with the controversial ULEZ scheme credited with preventing Labour delivering another kicking to the Government.
Protecting rail services
There's a lot of anger over plans to close rail ticket offices (Guy Bell/REX/Shutterstock)As Mirror readers will be well aware, there's a big fight going on over plans to shut railway ticket offices. The Government's faced a lot of embarrassment after it emerged several ministers have opposed the measure in their own constituencies.
Tory ministers are supporting the proposal from train companies to shut counters at 974 stations across England, but they are under growing pressure from their own MPs to abandon the cull. The Mirror is leading efforts to stop the closures, which will particularly hit the elderly, vulnerable and disabled.
Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda
This is a massive flagship policy for Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who inherited it from her predecessor, Priti Patel. Ms Braverman has been vocal about the fact she looks forward to sending asylum seekers to Rwanda, which the Government says is a "safe third country".
Unfortunately top judges disagreed, with the Court of Appeal ruling the scheme was unlawful in June. It means that 16 months after the scheme was first forward, the only person sent there was Ms Braverman herself - on a PR trip - but she came back.
Having a coherent position on the environment
During Mr Sunak's leadership campaign last summer - which he lost to 49-day disaster PM Liz Truss - he was keen to present himself as a champion for green issues. But more than a year down the line and it's all up in the air.
Things aren't good when the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) takes shots at your Government. The charity last week posted a picture of the PM, Michael Gove and Therese Coffey, branding them 'liars' for not sticking to environmental pledges. That came after ministers announced pollution regulations were being relaxed for new housing developments.
While he was on holiday this summer a group of Greenpeace activists scaled the walls of the PM's Yorkshire mansion in protest over North Sea drilling. And Tory in-fighting over climate targets has escalated, with ex-Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel - an ally of former PM Boris Johnson - leading calls for Net Zero targets to be "paused".
Doing things by the book
The PM was fined in January for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car (rishisunakmp/Instagram)The year didn't get off to a great start for Mr Sunak when he was fined by police for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car. There have been a number of flashpoints since then, throwing into question his pledge to lead a Government of integrity. Most recently he was rapped by Parliament's standards commissioner for failing to tell MPs his wife owned shares in a childcare firm that benefited from the Budget.
The PM was found to have "inadvertently" broken the MPs' code of conduct by not declaring the stake Akshata Murty had in Koru Kids when questioned by a committee in March. He then failed to correct the record in a letter to the committee chairman days later.
Having just one Prime Minister
In fairness to the Tories, this is something they have done well this year. Having had three leaders over the course of 2023 - Mr Johnson, Ms Truss and Mr Sunak - they have managed to get to this point in 2023 with just one person in charge.
That's not to say the top team has been unchanged. In January Mr Sunak sacked Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi after revelations about his tax affairs, while he's since lost Dominic Raab and Lord Zak Goldsmith.
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